Houston lawsuit targets state comptroller over data leak

Houston suit targets comptroller over data leakIt would help state workers if their identities are misused

PATRICIA KILDAY HART, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Published 5:30 am, Saturday, April 30, 2011

A Houston lawyer filed a class-action suit in federal court Friday against Comptroller Susan Combs and the state of Texas on behalf of 3.5 million Texans whose personal information was left exposed on a state Internet server for more than a year.

Asking that Combs be required to pay for costs relating to credit monitoring and identity theft, attorney Thomas Bousquet said the federal court action will ensure that anyone whose information is misused will be compensated by the state.

Combs on Thursday said the comptroller’s office would pay for credit monitoring for affected Texans and also pledged that her campaign fund would pay for credit restoration of anyone who falls prey to identity theft.

Bousquet said he filed the lawsuit to make sure that promise is kept. His named clients — K. Cain, I. Hayden and S. Hardin — are teachers from Houston, Austin and San Antonio, he said.

“What happens if our worst fears come true and all of a sudden there’s a thousand people who are the victim of identity theft?” he said. “This little thing she’s offering doesn’t solve that problem.”

While the state has immunity from most lawsuits, Bousquet said a federal court could allow the legal action to go forward since it involves violations of federal laws — the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1973 and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

The data was placed on a publicly accessible server for more than a year.

Combs’ office discovered the mistake on March 31 and began taking steps to protect the exposed data. Since then, she has spent $1.8 million to notify the affected citizens by mail, establish a phone line to offer advice and pay consultants to review her office’s procedures.

The federal lawsuit filed in Houston was the second legal action taken against Combs this week.

On Tuesday, two Austin lawyers petitioned a state district court for permission to question Combs as part of their investigation.

Combs had no comment on the new lawsuit Friday.

“I am deeply sorry for what happened, and my office is taking actions to assist those who were affected and implementing new policies and procedures to help ensure this never happens again,” she said. “I cannot comment on any litigation, but I can say that we will work with the Office of the Attorney General and provide them the information they need in responding to any legal action.”